Hal Carlton-Ford is a NYC-based writer-director-producer hailing from Cincinnati, OH. In theater and film, Carlton-Ford’s work focuses on trauma and ideological divisions between people who share an unacknowledged common ground. Their struggles serve as metaphors for the spiritual crisis in America today.
Carlton-Ford’s darkly comedic screenplays include Bath of Styx, in which a girl roleplays her dead cousin for the cousin’s grieving parents; Circle K, a comedy about human trafficking and worker exploitation in rural Ohio; and Judas, a parable about an immigration agent who comes to believe he’s impounding Jesus himself in a immigration detainment center.
In film, Carlton-Ford is an active member of Filmshop, a nationwide filmmaking collective, and an ongoing participant in Jessica Hinds’ screenwriting labs. As a playwright and theater director, Carlton-Ford is a proud partner of The Acting Studio – New York and the Chelsea Rep Lab, where his latest play, Duck, Duck, Goose premiered. As a cinematographer and gaffer, Carlton-Ford’s work has played at the Cannes Film Festival (Writing the Big One), Venice Film Festival (The Fits), Sundance and more.
Before he began making films, Carlton-Ford received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cincinnati's Department of Classics with a focus in Greek tragedy. His background in the classics informs his writing in content and form today.
